Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting 44 Mag Deer Loads

I have just acquired a Ruger 44 Carbine.

I'm thinking of using it for deer, and I'm exploring the use of cast bullets.

I've heard mixed rumors about cast in the Ruger Carbine. Some say it is bad ju-ju to run cast in it, because you'll lead up the gas port. I'm thinking with powdercoating this would not be a problem.

I'm thinking of a PC'd Lee C429-240-SWC with a GC, but I'm open to ideas.

Never shot cast bullets in my Ruger, 240 gr. XTP and WW 296/H110 was my deer load, accurate and deadly.

Me neither, but Mannlicher loved the loved the Speer 300 grain semi jacketed bullets. I can't find any more, but the 2709 grain deepcurl has great reviews.

I really like my powerd coated bullets and have had zero leading issues but I have not shot them through gas guns yet. One great thing about powder coated bullets is that I can cast them a little soft so that they might deform better upon impact. That being said, I have not recovered any of my 45-70 cast bullets as they have completely passed through the hogs I have shot.

Shaman, I don't have a Ruger 44 Carbine, but can comment on powder coated cast bullets in gas operated rifles since I do a bunch of that (mostly in the AR small and large frames).

- With low pressure mild loads, plain base powder coated bullets are generally fine. (Subsonic 300 Blackout is one example, 44 Special loads would probably be an equivalent for you if they'll cycle.) Past a certain port pressure, depending on a lot of different factors, gas cutting happens through the powder coating at the gas port and you will find lead in the gas system.

- With full power loads, it's a pretty safe bet that you'll need copper gas checks. A powder coated copper gas checked cast bullet has always worked well in all my gas guns without leading the gas system, even at ~60,000 psi and 2,800+ fps (with the right bullet hardness).

- Coat first, then add the gas check during sizing. Depending on the bullet base, you may need to flare the gas checks first.

- Aluminum gas checks can suffer from gas cutting at the gas port; I don't recommend them for gas operated rifles. They are OK for guns with no ports in the barrel though.

Hope that helps.

I use the lee 430 tumblelube mold with lee lube 23gr h 110 powder in 3 44 rugers and 4 other 44s I don't shoot more than 25 rounds before I clean the gas ports in the autos and have not had a problem

Yes, it does.

All I have is aluminum gas checks at the moment. Is that a show-stopper?
I figure I'll load up a batch and fire them and the first place that'll get cut is at the polyester. If it cuts there, the project is probably doomed anyway. N'est pas?

Try them out, and just keep an eye on leading in your gas system. I.e. inspect it more frequently at first than you normally would.

Also look for the aluminum gas checks in front of your shooting line. If they are being gas cut, they'll probably fall off and you'll be able to find some of them 10-15 yards in front of the gun. That's how I discovered mine were gas cutting; the recovered aluminum checks each had a similar cut in one spot that matched the size of the gas port. In my case, they were cutting badly enough to put some lead into the gas system, and affected accuracy a little bit too.

Here's an old pic from the photobucket days, hope this works. Only one gas check pictured, but I recovered a bunch that looked like this.

Check!

I'll be vigilant. My guess is this project is either going to work famously or die a quick death, and I'll be left with a gunked up gas port and a wee bit more wisdom. I corresponded with another fellow. He had shot a bunch of lead out of his carbine and never lead in the gas port-- only lube. It seems no one has tried PC through one of these carbines. I may be a pioneer!

shaman lube was what I keep cleaned more than lead

First question which no one has asked - which model Ruger do you have, the Model .44, or the Deerfield 99/44? It matters.

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I would use a hard cast bullet if I was worried about leading in the gas port.

The Model 44

Word I hear is that Ruger started out with a 38" twist on those things, then moved to 20". You need to figure out which one you have.

That carbine is the whole reason I started powder coating lead bullets. I never shoot a single one from mine though. The throat is so tight that I had to size the bullets under .429" to chamber and just couldn't bring myself to shoot any that small. Feeding my also a PITA in all the dummy rounds I tested.

I'm with gunwizard, H110 and the 240gr XTP does all I could ever ask from that carbine.

Thanks, Dinny

There are different nose profiles that will work in your gas gun & make it sing like Sinatra! Powder coating has made it very worth while to shoot cast in these guns with far less maintenance. I just returned from the NRA Center in New Mexico & although we were shooting mostly six guns I did fire quite a bunch of powder coated cast through my M1 Carbine, great fun.





Dick

4227 and 240gr LSWC is extremely effective on deer and other critters.

Powder coated makes them even better.